I came across an article earlier today that really summed up travel well and thought it was worth sharing. It really made me recall the ‘18 trip and the experience of ending up where you go. As I have said before, there is a lot of BS out there for travel but this article’s website has pretty good info for most of the articles I have looked at. I have seen a lot of clickbait on the news site I look at. I am not going to share that stuff.

I read through the slideshow and was in agreement with everything they said. One of the first things they mention is “letting go” and that is so true. Have no expectations, take it all in, and just be in the moment. It will be better than any photo can show or words can describe.

I am not going to go through each bullet-point they have, so you can read it for yourself when you have the time. I really do think it is a very well-written article.

My last trip to Europe was planned out pretty much most every day. Those of you who have read my blog posts about my trips for any length of time probably recoiled in horror seeing me plan that trip out as much as I did..especially after I have disparaged that type of travel on more than one occasion in these very pages.

When I was beginning the planning for this last trip in Feb/Mar, I saw an article that laid out the case for planning a big trip like Europe (or really any foreign trip). I kind of had the thought of planning any trip longer than a week as a minimum; I can wing it for a week pretty easily and do little/no planning other than getting there & back.

The author’s logic was if you are going to someplace far away (and most people DO have set time/budget considerations) then planning is a really good way to maximize those limits.

THAT is why I tried it. It sounded logical and I tried to plan but not over-plan. Admittedly it was difficult but it actually paid off. It went well bar the rail strike issue that took some creative thinking to keep things moving in a beneficial way. We had built in a few places with 2-3 nights scattered throughout the itinerary. During those long stays we walked around and looked, ate, rode trains…whatever we wanted to do and go wherever.

Next time? Next time I will do SOME planning but not as much as I did this last one. The rail pass thing I don’t know if I would do again, but otherwise I would just buy single tickets or rent a car.

My second trip in Feb. 2020 was planned less than the last one and was shorter. We had a car in Ireland and that was “travel freedom” and is the best way to see the island. We could really see a lot and distances were short. We had time in Amsterdam and Dublin to see quite a bit. That was true this last trip as well.

The last half of the first trip in Jan/Feb 2018 was real spontaneous – we would look at a map on my phone and look around to see what sounded interesting – and that method took us from Brussels to Luxembourg, into Germany’s countryside to Köln. Then we went to Bruges, Belgium for a bit and ended up that night in Antwerp., Belgium. Next day it was back to Amsterdam for two more days before leaving, with some really unique and great experiences along the entire way. We had no reservations, no plans…no idea where we were going other than we had to be back in Amsterdam to come back.

Not as grand of an adventure as some others have had, but it was the first trip. I was learning and continue to learn and get more adventurous every trip.

Of course, there are amazing experiences to have most anyplace you go, but I still say that there is a lot to be said for no planning and it’s how most of my road trips are with my trailer. The trailer makes a huge difference for travel, and that means when I am staying in hotels I might make a reservation earlier. The last couple of trips to South Dakota I stayed in some hotels and it felt weird. Not comfortable…just…generic. I really need to get away from the bigger chains and do more boutique hotels and independents. They can be hard to find but are put there and can be a unique and fun experience.

Maybe this article will give you some ideas on how you travel, or perhaps give good reason as to why you travel the way you do.

See ya next time.

Shawn